TIDMBGLF
RNS Number : 5624K
Blackstone / GSO Loan Financing Ltd
23 April 2020
Blackstone / GSO Loan Financing Limited
23 April 2020
COVID-19 Review, Dividend Policy and Declaration
NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION, DIRECTLY OR
INDIRECTLY, TO U.S. PERSONS OR INTO OR IN THE UNITED STATES,
AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN.
Blackstone / GSO Loan Financing Limited ("BGLF" or the
"Company")
The Company announces its Q1 2020 dividend, together with an
update on GSO's detailed review of the companies within its
portfolio, as previously announced on 23 March 2020, and an amended
dividend policy in light of the global spread of the Coronavirus
Disease 2019 ("COVID-19") and its expected impact on the global
economy.
COVID-19 is a human event first and foremost, and the Board and
GSO encourage everyone to be safe and secure.
COVID-19 Review Update
Further to the announcement made by the Company on 23 March
2020, GSO has conducted a detailed, bottom-up review of all c. 970
companies within its portfolios to determine the potential impact
of COVID-19 on the performance of these businesses. GSO focused not
only on those sectors that have been directly impacted by COVID-19,
including hotels, gaming and leisure, transportation, retail,
automotive, and energy, but the entire universe of industries
within its portfolios. The results of this exercise have allowed
GSO to consider the likely impact on cashflows generated by the
Company's investments in directly held CLOs and those held
indirectly through Blackstone / GSO Corporate Funding DAC ("BGCF").
This impact assessment has enabled the Board and GSO to assess the
sustainability of the Company's dividend in the short-term. The
medium- and long-term impacts of the global pandemic remain
uncertain. However, in the short-term, rating agency downgrades and
corporate defaults of companies within GSO's portfolios may lead to
temporary cashflow diversions away from subordinate note
distributions as a result of breaches in interest diversion and/or
over-collateralisation ratios within a number of CLOs to which the
Company has exposure (through BGCF).
GSO has already taken numerous steps to seek to mitigate the
impact of COVID-19 on the performance of its portfolios and will
continue to monitor the rapidly evolving economic environment to
identify risks and opportunities. Despite the near-term economic
disruption and resulting dislocation in the global credit markets,
GSO believes that these events create good investment opportunities
and provide further prospects for BGLF to enhance shareholder
value.
Dividend Policy
Taking all of these factors into account, the Board recognises
the importance of dividends to its shareholders and seeks to
generate attractive and predictable dividend payments.
Concurrently, the Board believes it is prudent to adjust its
Dividend Policy for the calendar year 2020 pursuant to the
comprehensive discussions between the Board and GSO regarding the
portfolio review and uncertain near-term outlook.
The Board announces that the Company has adopted a revised
Dividend Policy targeting a total 2020 annual dividend of between
EUR0.06 and EUR0.07 per ordinary share, which will consist of
quarterly payments of EUR0.015 per ordinary share for the first
three quarters and a final quarter payment of a variable amount to
be determined at that time.(1) The 2020 total target dividend
represents a dividend yield of between 10.5% and 12.2% based on the
BGLF closing price of EUR0.5725 on 22 April.
The Board will keep the Dividend Policy under close review and
may adjust the target dividend up or down as the impact of the
pandemic unfolds.
Dividend Declaration
The Board has today declared a dividend of EUR0.015 per ordinary
share in respect of the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 March
2020.
This dividend is payable on 29 May 2020 to shareholders on the
Company's share register as at the close of business on 1 May 2020,
and the corresponding ex-dividend date will be 30 April 2020.
The dividend is capable of being paid in Pound Sterling, rather
than Euros, provided that the relevant shareholder has registered
to receive their dividend in Pound Sterling under the Company's
Dividend Currency Election, or registers to do so by the close of
business on 11 May 2020.
A copy of the Dividend Currency Election form, which should be
sent to Link Asset Services, The Registry, 34 Beckenham Road,
Beckenham, Kent BR3 4TU when completed, can be found on the
Company's website at http://blackstone.com/bglf . The Dividend
Currency Election Form should only be completed by shareholders who
hold shares in certificated form.
CREST shareholders must elect via CREST.
Full details of how to elect are set out in the Terms and
Conditions which are included on the Company's website.
(1) The target dividend set out in this announcement is a target
only and not a profit forecast. It should not be taken as an
indication of the Company's expected future performance or results.
There is no guarantee that the target dividend set out in this
announcement can or will be achieved or can be continued if
achieved. There may be other additional risks, uncertainties and
factors that could cause the returns generated by the Company to be
materially lower than the target dividend set out in this
announcement. Accordingly, investors should not place any reliance
on such target.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
This announcement is for information purposes only and may not
be used in making any investment decision. This announcement does
not contain sufficient information to support an investment
decision and investors should ensure that they obtain all available
relevant information before making any investment. This
announcement does not constitute and may not be construed as any
offer to sell or issue, or any solicitation of an offer to
purchase, subscribe for or otherwise acquire, investments of any
description, nor as a recommendation regarding the possible
offering or the provision of investment advice by any party. No
information in this announcement should be construed as providing
financial, investment or other professional advice and each
prospective investor should consult its own legal, business, tax
and other advisers in evaluating the investment opportunity. No
reliance may be placed by any person for any purposes whatsoever on
this announcement (including, without limitation, any illustrative
modelling information contained herein), or its accuracy, fairness
or completeness.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Certain countries have been susceptible to epidemics, most recently
COVID-19, which may be designated as pandemics by world health
authorities. The outbreak of such epidemics, together with any
resulting restrictions on travel or quarantines imposed, has had
and will continue to have a negative impact on the economy and
business activity globally (including in the countries in which the
Company invests), and thereby is expected to adversely affect the
performance of the Company's investments. Furthermore, the rapid
development of epidemics could preclude prediction as to their
ultimate adverse impact on economic and market conditions, and, as
a result, presents material uncertainty and risk with respect to
the Company and the performance of its Investments. Potential
investors should be aware that any investment in the Company is
speculative, involves a high degree of risk, and could result in
the loss of all or substantially all of their investment. Share
prices may go down as well as up and you may not get back the
original amount invested. Results can be positively or negatively
affected by market conditions beyond the control of the Company,
GSO or any other person.
The target dividend set out in this announcement is a target
only and not a profit forecast. It should not be taken as an
indication of the Company's expected future performance or results.
There is no guarantee that the target dividend set out in this
announcement can or will be achieved or can be continued if
achieved. There may be other additional risks, uncertainties and
factors that could cause the returns generated by the Company to be
materially lower than the target dividend set out in this
announcement. Accordingly, investors should not place any reliance
on such target.
The information in this announcement may include forward-looking
statements, which are based on the current expectations and
projections about future events and in certain cases can be
identified by the use of terms such as "may", "will", "should",
"expect", "anticipate", "project", "estimate", "intend",
"continue", "target", "believe" (or the negatives thereon) or other
variations thereon or comparable terminology. These forward-looking
statements, as well as those included in any related materials, are
subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about the Company,
including, among other things, the development of its business,
trends in its operating industry, and future capital expenditures
and acquisitions. In light of these risks, uncertainties and
assumptions, the events in the forward-looking statements may not
occur. No representation or warranty is given to the achievement or
reasonableness of future projections, management targets,
estimates, prospects or returns, if any.
Any information or opinions contained herein are based on
financial, economic, market and other conditions prevailing as at
the date of this announcement (unless otherwise marked) and are
subject to change. No representation or warranty, express or
implied, is or will be made in relation to the accuracy or
completeness of the information contained herein and no
responsibility, obligation or liability or duty (whether direct or
indirect, in contract, tort or otherwise) is or will be accepted by
the Company or GSO. Each of the Company and GSO expressly disclaims
any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise any
statement contained in this announcement whether as a result of new
information, future developments or otherwise. This announcement
has not been approved by any competent regulatory or supervisory
authority.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
DIVPPUQCCUPUGQP
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 23, 2020 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
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